Facebook/POLITICO poll: South Carolina users cool to tea party

1/14/12 7:25 PM EST

Almost two-thirds of adult Facebook users in South Carolina say they aren't fans of the tea party, according to a Facebook poll conducted today with POLITICO.

Sixty-two percent of those surveyed said they are "not at all supportive" of the tea party, compared with 20 percent who were "somewhat supportive" and 18 percent who were "very supportive."

Of those surveyed, women were slightly less supportive of the tea party. Just 35 percent were either "somewhat" or "very" supportive of the movement, compared with 42 percent among men.

The results only represent the sentiment of South Carolina users on Facebook, not registered voters or likely GOP primary voters that tend to be more reliable barometers of primary elections. The Facebook poll, for instance, doesn't exclude Democrats or independents.

And the high number of South Carolina Facebook users who say they aren't at all supportive of the tea party is at sharp odds with a Winthrop University poll of registered South Carolina voters released in early December, which found that 61 percent approved of the tea party, although 83 percent were not formally part of the movement.

Facebook and POLITICO are running a daily poll to gauge Facebook users’ opinions about the South Carolina presidential primary. The first poll was released on Thursday.